176 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTtTEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 1, 1863. 



Earl\-ripening Muscat Ghapes (G. II.).—A detailed answer to your 

 note will be in next Tuesdaj 's Journal. 



Phesphving Late Grates (G". JV.)-— The bent treatment you can ndiipt 

 with the Vines tlit- drapes ol which are now colouring, and which you wish 

 to preserve tlirough the winter, is to give them a little extra heat with air 

 on, 6o as to h;ive them ripe in September. They will h.^vg better atter- 

 wardp. Then keep escessive wet from the roots-, as well as cold or fiost. 

 Keep the house airy day and night, aiid in dull cold weather put on gentle 

 fires to enable you to do so, giving most fire during the day, and more 

 CBpecially if the weather is at all dull and foggy. In a very foggy day pive 

 little air. Be sure you keep out frost— verj' little will injure the Grapes 

 and cause ihera to rot. Even without that it injures the flavour. Iveei' 

 the floor, wall?, &c., as dry as possible after the end of Augu.«t. We thinli 

 yonr early Giapes have kept very fairly. Very probabl> the shrivelling may 

 be owingio excessive heat and'drynoss. Very likely if in these hot sunny 

 days you had ju^t damped the floors and paths a little, the Grapes would 

 have been niore plump. As it is, the moisture has been evaporattd, and 

 you have something like a first-rate liaisin— no bad tiling in its way. lu 

 Euch hot weather we lessened air during the day, to prevent such excessive 

 drying. 



List of Agricc7-ti;ral Shows (A Tear's Subscribe?-). — In Mr. Cuthbert 

 Johnson's "Farmer's Almanack" is a list of all the Societies and their 

 Secretaries, 



Six Hyacinths for Exhibition (A iVo7-tfc).— Dark red, Robert Steiger ; 

 light ditto, l.a Dame du Luc ; dark blue, Prince Albert; light ditto, Grande 

 Vidette; white, Grandeur 5 Mcrveille ; yellow, Soleil d'Or. 



CuTT:^G-II0WN Cyanophyllum MACNincDM (C. S. N.). — You may cut 

 down this noble plant if jou Wiiut it to come away with two or three stems 

 from near the surface of the 5-oil ; but, in order to induce it to break 

 kindly, you will require to plunge it in a bottom heat of 80''. AVe would 

 much rather allow a plant about 2 teet hijih to grow on ihan cut it down 

 or stop it, as, according to our ideas of the hcautilul in this plant, it never 

 looks so well as \\hen brough away with a single stem and allowed to 

 branch right and left, which it will generally d(t when about 3J feet in 

 height. With a leader and a few lateral growths it is much more handsome 

 than when breught away with more stems. The loss of the buttom 

 leavts arises from some check We have bad them drop when the plaut 

 has been exposed to a current of dry cold rar, and when it has been left 

 too long without a shift, or has been neglected in the matter of watering. 

 It is a plant which thrives amazingly if watered with guano water. We i 

 have two spler.did plants of it just now which have been grown on from i 

 last autuniu's cuttings, and they are now bf-ginning to branch without any 

 stopping or ])inching. We always prefer r;ipidly-grown plants of one 

 year's t;rowth to laiger plants. There is a treshness and vigour about 

 them which is not generally found in older plnnts which have stood a long 

 time in the same pot. 



FcuGus IN Tan-pit {Dorsetshire) .—The fungus in your tan can readily 

 be removed by rubbing It sharply with the hand on its tirst appearance ; 

 but a better plan is to take the parts infected away, there being no neccssitv 

 to burn if, as it is perfectly hL.rniless, though unsightlj'. We use cocoa- 

 nut fibre, but have not been troubled with any fungus, though we have had 

 Ferns in peat literally one mass of yellow froth or loam, which succumbed 

 to a washing with water, care being taken to leave none of the yellow 

 froth on the soil. By frequently rubbing and removing the froth—or, us 

 botanists call it, "mycelium" — you need not fear any harm from this 

 fungus ; but if left to spread and remain until it becomes brown, the spores 

 will fly about in all directions and vegetate whenever they find a substance 

 in a state ot decomposition to adhere to, accompanied by a close stagnant air. 



PROPAGATiKG Hardy IIeaths (P. .5.1 •— Hardy Hcaths whcn youug may 

 be propagated by divii'ion, taking the parts away without shaking off any 

 soil that may adhere to the routs. It should be done immediately after each 

 species flowers. All Heaths ai e best piopagated from cuttings, putting in 

 the tips ot the young shoots when the wood is about half ripe. The cut- 

 tings need not be more than Irom 1 to 3 inches in length. Put; in as for 

 any other description of cuttings in fine peat and silver sand in equal parts, 

 scattering a little of the last between the cuttings ; place in a cold frame, 

 after which they must be gently watered and shut up quite close. Keep 

 the sun ofl', but admit all the ligbt possible, and give neither air nor water 

 the nest thiiiy days unless the soil is bccuming dry, when it must be given 

 even beloie it becomes dry. All that is required is to keep the soil moint, 

 not wet, and the atmofpbeie dote, hut not stagnant. You may strike 

 hardy Heaths under a bell-^lass in a shady place, but free from drip ; only 

 put in cuttings of the half-ripened shoots^. The plants themselves will tell 

 you when this kind of work ought to be done, lor Heaths flower at difturent 

 periods, ihere'orc we cannot give any particular time for taking cuttings. 

 Heaths detest the knife, though un&ightly growths may be removed ; yet 

 if hardy Heaths have room, they seldom need any pruning. Paul'd *' Rose 

 Garden " will puit you. 



Lifting Vine Roots {A Constant Subscriber),— yXe prefer lifting the 

 roots of Vines early in March; but, if the Vines have been forced, we 

 should prefer lifting the roots in the autumn immediately after the leaves 

 fall off. 



American Blight (Idem).— lake equal quantities of nnslacked lime and 

 Boot, and foim them into the consistence oi thick paint by a sufficiency of 

 urine, and iipply this hot (180°) to the trunks of your trees with a scrubbing- 

 brush, rubbing it into every crevice. Scrubbing the trunks alone will rid 

 them of muss, and brushing ammoniacal liquor from the gas-works into 

 the parlb iniected with blight will free the trees of it. 



Dakdelio.n on a Lawn {Jt/C7ii).—Anj time and all times are suitable 

 for destroying Dandelions on lawns. It is a good plan to go over the lawn 

 periodically and take up ail the Dandelions with a long-bladed knife, cut- 

 ting them off as much below the surface as possittle. Persist in this, but 

 for one season remove them as fast as they reappear, and towards autumn 

 in wet weather drop a little salt into each hole after removing the Dandelion, 

 and you will rarely see any more of them the season following. But bear 

 in mind, if Dandelions are allowed to seed anywhere near your lawn, it 

 will never be free from them, (or the wind scatters the seed far and near. 



SIuD FOR Fruit Trees {7'/em.).— The leafy mud of your ditch, exposed 

 to Irost and mixed with nnslacked lime, would not injure the soil of any 

 garden ; but as to its suitmg your Pe;!ch trees we cannot say, as wo do not 

 know whether ycur soil is heavy or light. If it is strong or clayey it will 

 Buit Peaches ; or, if it is light, the soil out of the ditch will do it g'ood. 



BoLLVHOCK Cuttings {A Constant Keafhr).— 1{ _,pn refer to page 94 of 

 our present Volume {No. 123) you ^sill find the directions tou require. 



Names of Plants.— Some of our correspondents are in the habit of 

 sending small fragments of plants lor us to name. This requires from us 

 such a great expenditure of time that we are compelled to say that we 

 cannot attempt to name any plant unless the specimen i- perfect in leaves 

 and flowers. [B. JE.]. — It is a i-hrub-Khus cotinus, or Venetian Sumach. 

 (A FirC'i/nirs Subscriber). — 1, Not a Spirie.i, but Astilbe rivularis; 

 2,Galega utHcinalis alba, the while Gulingale ; 3, Geranium striatum, Slrtraked 

 Crane'sbvll; 4, Achillea rosea gardeners call Ic, but it is nsplenifolia ol 

 books; 5, Achillea eupatcrinm, the Caspian Milfoil ; (i. Linaria pelona, the 

 regular-lloweicd variety of Linaiia vulgaris— a curious and very rare plant. 

 (J£. B.].~-l, Adianium "hisptduium ; 2, A^plcniuIn flaccidum(?)I too small a 

 bit to be quite certain; 3, Gymnogramma calomelanos, sometimes called 

 G. peru\iana; 4, Diosma encoides. (J. Bryan).— \, Lastrea'.'dilatata ; 

 2 and 3, Polysiichum, forms of acuieatuin ; 4, Laslrca oreopteris; 5. Las- 

 trea Filix-nuiB ; 6. Athyrium Filix-temina, var. incisum. [C- i^.t—1, Salvia 

 horminiim, var. viotacea, or the Furple-tojiped Clary, 2, Nepet.i viulacea, , 



violet-culnured Catniiut. \ 



POULTRY, BEE. and HOUSEHOLD CHEONICLE. 



CEYSTAL PALACE POULTIIY SHOW. 



There have lieen many mquii-ics why there has been no^ 

 Show at the Crystal Palace, and when there would he one.' 

 We have given no answer for the best of reasons — we could 

 not. We are, however, happy to say we have authority to 

 announce that one wlU take place in October, about the 

 middle of the month, we believe to begin on the 19th. This 

 will be instead of the two Shows, and ^^'iIl doubtless prove 

 an unusually large and good one. Many who can hardly make 

 up their minds to show theii' chickens in August will wiUingly 

 do so in October ; buxls are then in hai-d and good condition. 

 We think Mi-. Houghton has shown a wise discretion in 

 choosing the midway between the two. The Chicken Show 

 in August was too early for most classes, except Game and 

 Dorkings, and yet it was too late to hope for much company 

 from London. It took place when London was positively 

 emptj'. The Winter Show clashed with Bu'mingham, and 

 it suffered in consequence. It also took place when the 

 Palace was a cai'penter's shop preparing for Christmas revels. 

 Spite of aU these di-awbacks, and the fact that only those 

 who, like Bombastes, are " stout of heart and Umb " dare 

 face the dejilorable railway arrangements, yet the Shows 

 have been a success thi-oughout. May we not then fairly 

 expect numerous entries from mrr best yards in October.? 

 Lovely autumn weather, dayhght, and the Palace in a fit 

 state to receive company wiU helj"), wo hope, to make the 

 Show a real holiday to amateur's and a profit to the share- 

 holders. We think it deserves support as the London Show, 

 and it has strong claims on exhibitors fi'om the punctuality 

 which has always been one of its chief characteristics in 

 every particular. 



THE ISLINGTON AGEICULTUEAL HALL 

 POtTLTEY SHOW. 



This Show of poultry has proved itself one of the most 

 successful ever yet held in the griat metropolis. It was 

 appointed exclusively for yoimg poultry of the present year, 

 and consequently, the prize list being a most liberal one, a 

 competition ensued veiy rarely known so early in the season. 

 To poultiy amatem-s such a meeting had especial mterests, 

 as foreboding the probable strength of the yards of most of 

 our reputed breeders. As being chickens novelty was uni- 

 versal, and few, if any, of the company assembled left 

 without the spontaneous expression of approbation so good 

 a collection i-ichly deserved. 



It is almost useless to malce any remark whatever as to 

 the eligibility of the Islington Agricultm-al Hall for the 

 purpose of a poultry show — certainly it is not sm-passed by 

 any we have yet visited. On this occasion all the poultry 

 was exlubited in the extensive gallery that suiTounds the 

 whole building. They were ranged entu-ely in single tier ; 

 not a dark pen could be i^ointed out anywhere, and aU were 

 ahko conveniently placed breast-high. 



In Spanish Mi-. Eodbard took his customai-y position with 

 a splendid jien; but in cockerels Mr. Lane obtained the 

 mastery. 



In the class for Grey Dorldmj chickens Vicoimtess Holmes- 

 dale exhibited a collection of which any amateur would 

 indeed be proud. It must be boi-ne in mind, that as being 



